Schell Creek Range
In addition to this trail journal, I also filmed my Basin and Range Trail thru hike. I’ve produced a detailed series (11+ hours runtime) documenting this thru hike adventure, the product of over 1,000 hours of video editing. I highly recommending watching the Basin and Range Trail vlog series for an in-depth look at thru-hiking the Great Basin and central Nevada.
Like most nights in town, I was up later than I would be if I were camping. I was up until 11:30 or so last night going over the next section of the route, posting a few pictures to facebook and catching up with emails, bills and friends. Therefore, I didn’t get up until almost 8am this morning.
Breakfast was two bananas, muffin and a sausage egg and cheese biscuit. Packed up and walked out the hotel around 9:30. Had to walk about a mile and a half to the junction with US 93 alternate, and then walked another mile South out of town. There was a lot of traffic that was driving about 1/2 mile to a mile south of town and then turning into a couple of businesses. So, I had to get south of that to eliminate all of the town traffic.
Once I walked past the edge of town, there was almost no traffic. There was maybe three cars that went by, and none of them stopped. It’s always hard to get a ride from town into the middle of nowhere, versus the other way around. I stopped at a road sign that said next gas 130 miles, thinking this would be a good place to thumb it.
I didn’t try to hitch for too long before giving up and calling a taxi. I was eager to get started walking, and didn’t feel like waiting around all day. There was only one taxi service in town, and they charged me 80 bucks. He was there within 5 minutes to pick me up and I was at my destination before I knew it.
The taxi driver was used to drive a snow plow for NDOT, but he rolled it a few years ago and got seriously injured. Broke his back, had glass stuck in his face. Gnarly. He rolled it almost right where I needed to be dropped off, so he knew exactly where it was. Whitehorse Pass, as its marked on the map. The lady on the phone when I called and said I needed a ride to the southern end of the Goshute range had no idea what I was talking about, haha. You know, that mountain range that forms the skyline of the town you live in. That one. You don’t know the name?
I had planned on walking the east side of Whitehorse Mountain, the high point of the extreme southern end of the Goshute Range, which lies just south of US 93 Alt. On the ride here though, it didn’t look all that appealing. He dropped me off right where I got my ride into town, which was closer to the west side of the range. This was shorter, and more scenic. This made more sense, so I walked the west side instead, changing my plans on the fly. I love the flexibility offered when making your own route. I’ll hike where my eyes and my heart takes me, not confined to a trail or even a route I planned from home.
I was really digging the walk-through Antelope Valley, just as I had before I got my ride into town at the end of the last section. Normally, the start and end points of a section are not that exciting. But here, I actually enjoyed the beginning of this section.
I found a dead bobcat along the road. First time I’ve ever seen a bobcat. I’d prefer to see a live one, but this is a start.
Nearly right next to the Bobcat, up the hill was a small cave. This was more of a tall but narrow style cave, and you could see right through the back side of it. through a small opening. Interesting. It sure was a cool view out over the massive Antelope Valley.
It didn’t take long to walk around the Whitehorse mountains. A couple of hours. I could see the Kinsley mountains now, and in between the two mountain ranges was a bit of a gravel pit. As I look back to the north, the skies were getting pretty dark. It looks like some rain with falling, and a low Thunder could be heard in the distance.
The north side of the Kinsley mountains looked a bit steep and more rugged than I thought. My plan was to climb up to the Ridgeline here and walk the whole thing. However, dark clouds were building and taking over the sky in my immediate area. I saw bolts of lightning on the Leading Edge of the rain clouds, not that far away from me. Then moments later, a very strong bolt of lightning struck the Ridgeline that I had planned on walking. There was almost no time in between the lightning bolt in the Thunder, which was extremely loud. I’m glad I’m down on the road, but I still feel exposed, being basically the tallest thing around down in this valley.
I walked around the East Side of the Kinsley mountains now, hoping the rain and thunderstorms will clear. The Kinsley Mountains aren’t known for much, but right in the center of the mountain range there is a gold mine. It has change hands a few times in the last few years and I was told it was not currently in operation. Good news for me, because I want to walk through it. I have also been told it there is a water source at the gold mine location somewhere, on the east side.
When I first saw the tailings from the gold mine, I left the road I was walking and hiked off Trail to the entrance, trying to save time and distance. I saw about seven or eight
ses. Pretty nice view of Antelope Valley now as I gained a little elevation and looked back.
I walked up alongside a pile of tailings, instead of taking the main road into the mine. I wish I would have taken the main road, at least then I could have seen if there was a water source. Instead, when I got to the top of the tailings, I reached a road and ended up walking down hill a bit. These are where the large pit mines are, as well as the excavator. I saw an antelope here as well.
Alongside the two large open pits were an excavator and a Porta-Potty. Next to the porta potty was a station to wash your hands. It was a big blue plastic thing. There were soap dispensers and paper towels. There was a foot pedal you could push that would draw water out of the tank and pump it up so that you could wash your hands with it. Written on the station where the words, not for drinking, and in Spanish, no beber. But I have a water filter, and I must beber. I only filtered 1 liter, mainly because I didn’t want to carry more than 4 and my pack was already heavy. Plus the water taste is a bit funky, even though I filtered it. A chemical-type taste.
After I got my water, I continue to head up Hill, to the crest. This became a bit of a confusing network of roads. It’s not too confusing if you just want to follow the main road, but I could see the road I wanted to follow up the hillside to the crest and I couldn’t figure out how to get to it for a while. I kind of wasted a lot of time here. I did find a couple good pieces of Wonder Stone on the ground, though.
Eventually got to my road that leads up to the crest. This road was barely a road, but it was a pretty decent substitute for a trail. It was very slanted into the hillside, not really an angle which you would drive a vehicle across. I followed this road until it ended at the crest of the Kinsley Range. On the other side was an actual hiking trail, and I saw one cairn. Interesting.
The Ridge was pretty pleasant. Not too thick with vegetation, fairly easy to walk actually. I began to head south, towards Antelope Peak. One Small Knob obstructing my view. This was off Trail now, but still easy.
I found a couple of pretty good campsites along the Ridgeline before you reach Antelope Peak, high point of the Kinsley Range. However, it was only 7:20, and I was confident I could make it up and over given the conditions. So I went for it.
It was a pretty short ascent up Antelope Peak. There was a Rocky Ridgeline, not quite a knife Edge but close. It was a nice and easy scramble up to the top with no problems. On the summit, there was a Summit register in an old ammo box. This is the first Summit register I’ve seen in Nevada! There were only five other entries in it dating back to 2003. Beautiful views on the summit just as the sun was going down.
The Summit of Antelope Peak (7780) has some flat areas and will make a good place to camp for the night. Camping on a Summit, woohoo! Only problem is, my tent Stakes only go into the ground about 1 inch. So, I had to set really heavy rocks on them. Good thing its not windy tonight.
Slept great last night. Woke up at 6am on the dot. Nice to wake up on a mountain peak! Thankfully there was no wind last night. There isna’t any one landform here that is stunning, but this area has a simple beauty to it that’s hard to ignore.
Now to work my way down the Ridgeline off of the Kinsley mountains. At first it going was pretty easy. The vegetation wasn’t too thick. There were many times where I crested a small saddle, only to be presented with basically the exact same view. Towards the bottom of the Ridgeline, the going got a little bit tougher. It was a bit more cliffy, and eventually I abandoned the ridge for a side Canyon that had a dirt road. It was a little out of the way, but worth it.
When I reached the road at the end of the Kinsley mountains, Kinsley spring was there. This was on private land, but there is a public road that goes through it. The sign on the gate says, private property – enter at your own risk. It doesn’t say do not enter, or no trespassing. It said, enter. At your own risk. Permission granted in my book. Kinsley spring was actually pretty decent. It was a large tire filled with water, but the water wasn’t too green or thick with algae. Pretty clear. This one reminded me of my time thru-hiking the CDT in New Mexico.
From here I had a choice to walk through the Antelope mountains or around them. These are more like Hills. Low, wooded Hills, with a dirt road going through. It was about the same distance either way, and looks like only a thousand foot of elevation gain or so, so I went for the Antelope mountains route.
It was mid-morning now, and I could tell something different was going on with the weather today. The sky was cloudy already, which was unusual. In June, it was just blue skies everyday with no clouds. For the last couple weeks, it would be blue skies in the morning, then white puffy clouds in the afternoon that could form thunderstorms. But today, it was just a random Patchwork of gray clouds.
The Antelope mountains were a pretty boring range. Not any more interesting than it looked from Kinsley spring. Just some run-of-the-mill low Woodland scrub. A couple areas that had been burned by a fire. A couple of nasty Springs, ruined by cows. Saw a herd of about 6 or 7 antelope in a burn area. In one clearing, I saw a herd of about 20 horses and right next to them, a little bit higher on another Hill, a herd of another 15+ horses.
I felt like the first half of the Antelope mountains went by pretty quick, and I didn’t mind them so much. But the second half seems like it dragged on. The climb up to the last saddle seemed slow, and I began to doubt my estimate of 1000 foot elevation gain for this whole range.
Once I dropped down the last saddle out of the Antelope mountains, I got a view of Steptoe Valley and the Cherry Creek range. With the storm clouds in the distance and random rays of sunlight shining on the mountains, it was pretty pleasant.
I checked my phone and I was surprised to see 4G service here once again. The clouds began to clear up and it was mostly sunny overhead. I took a break under a juniper tree for lunch, and this provided a good amount of shade. More storm clouds were moving in, but these looked like they would pass to the north. It was sunny now where I was, and quite hot. There was a spring here, flat spring, that was on the map I had missed this one in my planning and research, and it wasn’t marked as a potential water source. I was surprised to see another big tire here full of crystal clear water. I should have filled up here, but I kept going.
Then I passed Cress spring, another spring that was marked on the map but one that I had not marked as a way point. This one was nasty! A cow shit swamp, I wouldn’t drink this one unless I was about to die.
I made pretty good progress through this next section. It was really hot now, and for some reason this motivated me to walk fast. Probably to get to the next water source, which seemed very far away. I didn’t see anything for water ahead until I reach Becky Peak. Passed through a good sized burn area. The burn line stops abruptly on one side of a 4×4 road, leading me to believe it was a controlled burn. Just a guess, I suppose it could also have ended abruptly as the road is a natural break line for the firefighters to protect.
While walking the dirt road, I came across a young horse. The mother was nowhere to be found. This guy was walking face-first into a small tree, almost as if you couldn’t see it or as if he was stuck. But I didn’t see anything that was holding him there, he was just constantly trying to walk into it. I cautiously approached, and he didn’t back away. I reached out and touched his back, at first he twitched, but then, he calmed and let me pet him. I wasn’t sure if he needed help or what. His eyes looked pretty red, I wondered if he had an eye injury or if he was just blind or something. Then he started trying to walk under a few branches but was getting stuck. I tried to break the branches, and a combination of him pushing on the branches and me pulling on them did the trick. Success, freed the little guy. I tried to give him some water, by dumping it on his head. But he didn’t get it, I was hoping he would open his mouth and go for the water. Oh well, I didn’t have much to spare anyway. I am pretty sure this guy was going to die soon one way or another.
After passing the horse, I walked to a junction in the road. I went right, heading west now, towards Becky Peak and the Schell Creek range. I was getting pretty tired now, hadn’t had a break in a while and pushed through all that hot weather.
Dark clouds were building again over the Schell Creek range. I checked the weather on my phone and there was quite a bit of activity coming from the south, in waves.
I reached an area of private property again, but like earlier in the day, there was a sign that said enter at your own risk. Since this is the shortest and most direct route, also likely has water, that’s the route I’m taking! When I entered the private property, I could see several hundred domestic sheep on the other side of the canyon, and these guys were on the move. I thought for sure I would run into a sheep herder, but I didn’t see anyone.
As I worked my way up Sampson Creek, it began to rain. There was some water flowing down the creek in spots, particularly up stream, but it didn’t look appealing. I kept following an uphill until I reach the source a metal lid propped up by rocks that topped off a tank underground. Water was coming up from this tank and spilling over the top. The Rocks keep the animals away. This was a nice feature, I was able to get my bottle into the tank collect crystal clear water. However, it decided to rain at this moment. It has been 4 hours since I took my last break, and I was almost out of water. I was hungry, thirsty and tired. I really needed this break, especially since the next section has me going uphill to Becky Peak, a big elevation gain.
After the break, I finished walking through the segment of private property and entered public land again. I saw more horses and more pronghorn. I saw horses scattered throughout the day actually, too many times to count. At one point while walking the road to Becky Peak, I could hear the clip-clop of horses running. It was getting louder and louder, and eventually they emerged from the trees, running right at me. They were about 10 yards away or so and as soon as they saw me they change course and ran away from me.
I began the final ascent up to Becky Peak on a dirt road along Sampson Creek. This looks to be about 1,700 feet elevation gain. There’s a sizeable pond along Sampson Creek at the base of the climb, but I’d follow it uphill to its source if I needed water. But I don’t. As I neared a junction, I decided to stop for the night. The clouds continued to build above Becky Peak and I did not want to be camping high up on the ridge line tonight. So I stopped lower in the canyon than I normally would have. It was only 7:30, early for me.
Set up my tent and got a few time-lapses going of the sunset and building clouds behind my tent and Becky Peak. Then it started to rain. It was quite windy at times, but largely my fault cuz I set up the tent in a manner that catches the wind. I continued to hear rainfall on my tent for a few hours tonight as I tried to sleep.
I started the morning off with a climb up to camp spring. It was another couple hundred ft from my campsite. At the top of the climb was a sign welcoming you to the Becky Peak Wilderness. It lists Becky peek at 9859 ft but my map says 10002ft. That is quite a large discrepancy. I wonder which is right. I prefer the version that is 10k!
Shortly after I came across camp spring. There were two troughs, one of them was overflowing and feeding a pond. The pond was held back by sandbags and rocks, and then flow downhill. One of the troughs had two dead Chipmunks in it. Better filter from the other one. Otherwise, the water looked crystal clear.
My sawyer filter has been filtering pretty slow. I’ve back flushed it, and its still slow. The whole process of filtering water takes a long time now. Also, when I filter a liter of water, I want to chug a liter while I’m filtering more water. So I finally made a bit of a gravity system. The bottom of the platypus bag has a couple of guides for cutouts, so I poked a hole in these with my knife and used my spare guy line to run a string through the holes that I just punctured, and tied a series of knots behind it. Now I can hang this from a tree or post, and let it filter while I do other things, like drink the previous liter of water I just filtered, or wash my socks.
Next I climbed up the northeast side of the Ridgeline leaving to Becky Peak. It looks deep from far away, and when I got right up close to it, it still look pretty steep. Steep, but very manageable. It was mostly loose dirt and rock, but not loose enough to where it was a one step forward two steps back kind of deal.
While working my way up the Mountain, I came across my second rattlesnake of the trip. Much like the last one, it was hiding under a rock in the shade on a slope below a Summit, near 10k feet. I was probably 7 or 8 feet away when I heard his rattle. Thankfully they give a warning.
As I neared the summit, I could hear the sheep dogs and the sheep, and see two trucks in the valley far below. Just below the Summit of Becky Peak, there was a mangled pile of metal. It was pretty obvious what it was, as I had seen these before… Basically a weather station. At least, it collects rainwater. I had seen one of these in Soldier Creek in the Rubies, and elsewhere. I believe it was USGS. This one was laying on the ground, with the top instrumentation part separate from the post.
The Summit of Becky Peak was pretty nice. Great view of the Cherry Creek range across Steptoe Valley. On the other side, the Antelope range continues south, and remains unimpressive. There was a Summit register on this peak as well. There was no more paper to be signed, so I added a small piece from my junk drawer bag. There were 13 summits in the past 2 years, and one of them was last week! I was not expecting that.
Next I continue South long the crest of the Schell Creek Range, through the Becky Peak Wilderness. I thought the best views of the Becky Peak area where here, descending the summit and hiking south along the ridge. Pretty easy-going at first. A good mix of horse trails and overall easy terrain. I enjoyed massive sweeping views of the Schell Creek range to the South. Also, I think I can see Wheel Peak in Great Basin National Park now, far off in the distance. That’s basically my end point for this hike, so that’s a significant landmark for me.
After following horse trails around a high point, it was time to head down a Ridgeline. This was more of the slow off-trail stuff I was used to. It took a while getting to the Ridgeline, having to side Hill my way there. Once on the Ridgeline itself, it was a mixture of small rocks, the kind packed into the dirt, and small trees. Fortunately not too bad of a Bushwhack.
Made it down to a saddle separating the Ridgeline I came down and another tall peak, another 800 or 1000 foot climb or so. I really didn’t want to climb up that peak, so I took horse trails around the mountain side instead. In this case, I probably should have just gone up and over. There was a lot of Sagebrush to walk through, and the horse trails were intermittent at times. In following the horse trails around the Mountainside, I had to still go up over a small pass. This one was heavily wooded when I got to the other side. It looks like the best way forward was to Contour around the hillside to Dolan Trap spring.
The off-trail hiking along the steep hillside proved to be quite a pain in the ass. The ground beneath my feet was very loose… Loose dirt, loose rocks on fairly steep terrain. I fell a couple of times. I worked my way around the mountain at this elevation for a while, before reaching a Ridgeline that suffered a forest fire. I continued to contour around the mountain through the burn area over to the spring.
Dolan Trap spring was dry, as my notes said it would be. But there were two large pipes or tanks here, and they provided shade. This will be my lunch spot.
After lunch I headed uphill a couple hundred feet to another pass. I was on an old dirt road now, even though I’m in the wilderness, old Roads sometimes still exist. This one was being reclaimed back to Nature. I followed the road down from the pass into a valley, and then up Dry Canyon towards another pass. This one would be another thousand or 1200 ft elevation gain.
At the top of this pass were some pretty great views. Looking South I could see North Lovell Peak and “The Nipple”.
There was a short section of side-hilling, and following horse paths, before I could reach back up with another road on a ridge. Pretty great views all around here in every direction. Very enjoyable walk.
This route drops lower into the valley and swings buy a couple of springs on the map, but takes me slightly out of the way from where I need to go. I reached the first spring, which was dry. My route had me going off Trail, side hilling through a bunch of Sagebrush. No thanks! I’m done with that, if I can avoid it. Instead, I followed the road downhill about a mile and losing about 400 ft, and then another mile and 400 ft uphill around a big Knoll. Probably roughly the same amount of time and definitely worth avoiding the hassle of the off-trail traverse.
Take a quick snack break under the shade of a tree, one of few trees around. Continued uphill through the canyon that will lead me over the pass, just below the nipple. Good views, pretty wide open. The other reaches of this Canyon had water, just below Cooley cabin. I stopped here to filter a couple liters of water, cool off and wash some of my clothes.
It was another couple hundred feet uphill to reach the pass after my water break. At the top of the pass, I was surprised at the quality of the views. There were some limestone rock formations at the top of the pass that were nice, but more than that, looking further to the south the rock formations along the Ridgeline with Lovell Peak where excellent. Reminded me of the Goshute mountains, and the Egans.
With the big climb of the day done, the sun below the rest of the ridge, it was an enjoyable walk the rest of the evening down McMaughn Canyon. The limestone cliffs along the eastern side of McMaughn Canyon where very appealing, and I wished I could hike closer to them for a better view.
They were a couple of decent places to camp in the upper reaches of the canyon, but as I got lower, it was just low Sagebrush. It was getting dark and I was looking for a spot. My map had a spot called McIntosh Place marked. Apparently, this was an Old Homestead. This was overgrown and did not provide a suitable campsite either. Fortunately, just down the road I found an open spot alongside the road, a few feet away, just a clearing in the dirt. Works for me!
I slept for about an hour last night before I heard an animal about 20 ft away. I turned on my headlamp and saw something scurrying away from a tree, about the size of a raccoon. Not really sure what it was. I didn’t really sleep that well after that. A couple hours later, I heard some horses walking down the road that I was camped alongside.
From my campsite, I was less than a mile from CR-18, a paved road that cuts through the Schell Creek Range and goes over Schellbourne Pass. From there I made my way down to the road that I had planned on Crossing through Shellbourne Ranch on. Unfortunately, this was a private Ranch entryway with a sign that said keep out. I was in a good mood until I saw this. There’s public land on the other side, but no way to access it due to this Ranch.
So now I need to figure out another way to get into the mountains from here. The only thing I could come up with was a walk up and over Shellbourne pass to another road that was about four or five miles out of the way. No choice, so I started walking uphill.
It was a few miles of road walking to go over Shellbourne Pass and reach an old 4×4 road leading up into the mountains. I started walking up the road, and made it to Basin spring, where I stopped to filter water. This was a clearing with a spring tickling downhill, the grass all trampled by horses. The water looked pretty gross. I had no way to collect from the source. Instead, I went slightly downhill, where the water was flowing out of a stagnant pond. I was able to fill up my water bottle from the water flowing off of a 10 inch waterfall. It looks clear, and my water filter will take care of the rest.
Now I had to climb a steep 4×4 Road up to the crest of the Schell Creek range. I was really sweating and working to make my way up this one. I thought I was at the top, but it was a false Summit. So, more climbing to go. Finally at the top, I took a break in a patch of trees. The shade felt great, and I ate lunch.
Massive views over Steptoe Valley. The Cherry Creek Range has ended, and now, the Egan Range runs parallel to the Schell Creek Range to the west
The trail drops a bit to a saddle, then climbs up higher once again. I could tell today was going to be a lot of work. Although there might be a lot of climbing, at least it’s easy hiking, for the most part.
While hiking up the next pass, the 4×4 road I was on turned into a single track trail. Nice! I followed this uphill and dropped down into the next Valley. Here, I saw several rock cairns too. Excellent Trail, well maintained.
The trail skirts the hillside now for a mile or two, avoiding climbing up and over another high point. Sounds good to me! The trail stays on the East Side of the Range and provided excellent views… I could see North to Becky Peak, and south to what was likely the snake range, Mount Moriah. I could see where the Antelope range ends, as well as Spring valley.
The trail passes by a spring now, this one was a nice surprise because I hadn’t had it marked on my map. Water was flowing out of a pipe, easy to collect from. I didn’t need any water at this time, not to filter anyways. So I filled up my water bottle and dumped it over my head. This felt great!
Next the trail passes through a heavily wooded Hillside. This was a real pain in the ass section, because the trail seemed like it kept climbing forever. Steep trail, too.
Next the Trail emerges on a high open Ridgeline. Moving on, the trail drops down significantly in elevation. Excellent views. About 100 ft down the hill below the road was an old truck, which lay in ruins. Apparently the truck drove off the road and rolled down hill.
I enjoyed good views of increasingly more impressive limestone cliffs along the crest of the Schell Creek Range, now visible as I see it from a new angle.
I reached a point where the trail was supposed to skirt the hillside, but there was no trail or road. Instead, it dropped down another 400 ft or so. Then it was another thousand foot climb. It was probably 4:30pm now, and I was in direct sunlight. This was perhaps the hardest part of the day for me, and if I am honest, one of the lowest points I can remember on the whole Basin and range trail. I felt completely overwhelmed, being so extremely tired, exhausted and hot, and having so much further to go. With my pack on I sat down on the Steep 4×4 Road and debated what to do. I looked at my map, considering heading down hill and looking for alternate routes to avoid all this climbing. But there really weren’t any good routes, and somehow I mustered the strength to keep going. It helped that the sun went behind a cloud for a solid 20 minutes, while a slight breeze was in the air.
After this pass, the trail goes up on another Ridgeline. From here the trail drops down to Ruby Creek, my next water source.
Down at Ruby Creek, I found a very small trickle of a stream, and had to hunt for a spot to collect from. There was a lot of green alongside a Dry Creek bed, and I went up stream until I found a willow Thicket that produced water. Then, I had to get my trowel and dig out a pool to collect from. Fortunately there was shade here, so I was able to sit and relax while the pool filled and the murky water dissipated.
Then the trail climbs uphill again for another 800 ft. It passes Ruby mine, which had two old cabins. I saw no rubies, and no interesting rocks. I don’t poke around all that long, either. I saw 4 deer around here, though.
After this, there was a series of random Ridge lines, but the trail more less stays at an even elevation with climbs no more than 200 ft, and well graded. There was even a couple of signs that marked the ranger Trail along the road. From this point on, the evening was really nice.
The sun had gone down behind the ridge, the temperature had cooled, and the lighting was just magical. Some really excellent hiking here. Beautiful views, Jagged Peaks to the South. All I could think about was how awesome this hiking was, and how much work I had to put in to just be able to have one hour of nice hiking in a day. 12 hours of extremely hot hiking, lots of climbing and filled with bugs… All for one hour of good hiking. And somehow, its worth it in the end.
It was around 8pm and I was looking for a campsite. I got really lucky and found a nice open field along the road with many places to camp, and a small stream about 50 yards away. For once, a good campsite that didn’t require a lot of work, at the right time. I was really thankful for this tonight.
Heard something walking pretty close to camp last night, sounded like horses. Yelled out at them, and like always, nothing happened of it.
The views started out pretty good today, the Jagged Ridge towering above the ranger trail makes sure of that. Passed By a small spring, a trickle of water flowing through a patch of Aspen trees. Past another spring father up the trail, at least I believe it was a spring, as it was green and there were cows standing around it. Saw some sort of weather station in a field. This one was definitely functional and intact.
At the beginning of the big climb of the day, while I was walking uphill, I saw a guy coming down hill. And he had two dogs. I waved, and said good morning. He said hi back, in a thick Spanish accent. Around the same time, I first started hearing sheep, and I realized he was a sheep herder. Sure enough, I saw his horse right up the hill, and down into the next Valley, a couple hundred sheep. Bah. Bahhh!
Pretty nice views going up this pass. This would be the last good views of the day, at least from a high Point. On the other side, my enemy… poof dirt. The trail dips down into a large Aspen tree patch. I could see the sheep herders camp in the woods, an old school looking canvas tent, coolers, bails of hay for his horse.
Next I went up over a very small saddle. On the other side, the trail was pretty faint. It drops down into North Creek. I lost the trail for a little bit, and feared a terrible bush whack down this steep Canyon. Eventually I picked up on the trail again, thankfully. It led me to a small wooded area with a creek flowing through it. Perfect, shade trees and some good water to drink. Break time.
The trail was thick and overgrown sometimes, but it eventually led me to a road. It’s funny how I feel about roads now, having done so much bushwhacking. I don’t mind them as much now, at least, in short increments.
It was really hot now, but a decently enjoyable experience walking down the canyon. It must have experienced a recent burn, I can still smell it in the air and see all of the burnt Sagebrush. With the valley opening up now, and a view to the south of the Schell Creek range, I debated my options. The plan was to follow the Ranger trail along the hillside to bird Campground. But last night I decided after looking at maps that I could actually follow the Ranger trail to timber creek Campground, which meant I could stay off the high Ridgeline before North Schell peak for longer. But now that I could see the next few miles of my route, which appear to skirt the hillside of the high shells, it didn’t look too appealing. It kind of reminded me of the Lamoille Canyon to Soldier Creek hike in the Rubies. Is it worth the effort? I also considered walking around the entire Ranger Trail completely by going through Duck Valley, which would mean a road walk. This probably would be faster, and certainly less elevation gain, and didn’t look like I would be missing too much on the scenery front. Certainly more miles, though. So I was considering this.
Saw a guy and his wife on a side-by-side, a two-person vehicle. They were going uphill as I was coming down. After passing them, I realized I was supposed to make a turn where they did to stay on the ranger trail. I didn’t really feel like going back up hill. So this made my decision easy, I’m taking the low route through Duck Creek Valley to Timber Creek Campground. Timber Creek is the preferred way to access North Schell peak.
Walked down a pretty uneventful Canyon along North Creek, until reaching a residential area. Eventually reached the main Highway running North and south through Duck Creek Valley. I believe this was Highway 486. This was a paved Road. 10 vehicles drove by in the opposite direction, only 1 the way I want to go.
Finally, a jeep driving the opposite direction stopped even though I didn’t have my thumb out. They asked if I need a ride, I said yeah but the way you just came from, to timber creek campground. They said that’s where they were camped. They said sure we’ll give you a ride there. Then they said, were on our way to go fishing, you want to join? I said sure!
Introductions, Dave and Donna from Cali. Dave is out here to do some gold mining. Waiting to hear from a friend on a location to do some dredging. So, he’s just exploring in the mean time.
So, in a matter of moments, I go from hiking to the timber creek campground to on the way to a small lake to go fishing. How random is that? We drove into Ely, bought worms. I bought a huge box of chicken and fries from the gas station. Hungry! Lady at the gas station had never fished Bassett lake, where we were going. She suggested cave lake instead (where I was ultimately planning to end this section at). So that’s where we headed.
Cave Lake was beautiful. Water levels were low, like everything out here. Nice water color, a vibrant turquoise blue. Dave had some tiny fishing poles, like for ice fishing. They felt like kids equipment. I used a gold kastmaster, had some follows and bites but didn’t catch anything.
Sat under a tree on a picnic table in the shade. We discussed rocks, mining and treasure. Dave said he was going to pan/dredge/high bank for gold tomorrow and I was welcome to join. Always wanted to look for gold, with someone who knows what they are doing. I’m in!
Drove back through Ely and hit the gas station for beer, ice, supplies, then drove back to the campground. Sat around camp and listened to music on Bluetooth speaker.
Dave had a generator, which powered a small TV ,and we watched some horrible old van Damme movie, Black eagle. Wow. It was after dark and he had the generator running, and the TV up pretty loud. It was clear he lacked the proper camping etiquette, but I didn’t want to be the one to scold him.
After I went to bed he watched another movie, and had the generator running. He had some sort of bright light on throughout the night. I just put in my earplugs and zonked.
Got up after 8am. Dave and Donna were already up, tending to the fire pit. I could hear it crackle from my tent. They made corned beef hash for breakfast, cooked on a pan over the fire.
After breakfast we started to load up the Jeep with the mining equipment he thought we would need for today. The plan was to take samples from several different Creek beds and see what we found. Then concentrate on any Creek that showed promise. The Jeep was so filled with garbage, but they refused to clean it out. I was trying to be helpful, every time I grabbed something to throw out, he would say, oh we need that, there’s an email address or a password written on it. And sure enough, there was. But there was lots of other things that could be thrown out, instead, we had to squeeze in between tools, equipment, cooler, and garbage.
We left the campground and started driving down the dirt road back towards the main Highway in Duck Creek Valley. On the way out, we past the pay station where one pays the nightly fee. Dave noticed that it said fee station, and said, oh, we were supposed to pay for this campground? I found it a little hard to believe that he was camped here for several days and had not noticed this already, let alone on the first day. None-the-less, he balked at the 35 per night fee for the double campsite he had occupied. In his defense, this was really steep, especially compared to the $8 a night for a single site. So now, Dave and Donna decided that the best course of action was to head back to the campsite, pack everything up, and leave. So, back to the campsite we went.
We packed everything up quickly and This of course made the Jeep and the trailer even more jam-packed. Dave figured that he could just camp for free on National Forest land, which is true. So that was his plan now. I should have just parted ways with him here, while I was still at Timber Creek, so I could do the North Schell to South Schell Peak Traverse and finish this section as planned, but I was still enticed by the Prospect of gold mining.
Now we drove into Ely so Dave could buy a gold detector from the sports store. Donna and I waited outside while he went in and tried to purchase it. However, his debit card was declined. So he came back outside and spent a good while on the phone with Bank of America trying to straighten it out. The only thing is, Dave is not very tech savvy. He is 55 and Donna is 60, and they are both pot heads to boot. His bank tried to send him an email, and he was having serious trouble retrieving it on his phone. To complicate the matter, he bought like 4 new phones, and was never really sure which one he was using. In the end, the lady on the phone verified his identity in some other way. For whatever reason, the transaction still did not go through.
Now Dave was trying to find a Bank of America Branch location to physically drive to. The lady on the phone told him there was one that was 100 miles away. I looked on Google Maps, and could not find anything closer than Vegas, 4 hours away. Dave never bothered to ask which town the Bank of America was in, but now he was set on driving 100 miles to a Bank of America branch to try and pull out money, to then come back and buy the gold detector. It was already 1pm At this point the day was shot from my perspective. Since they are not going back to the Timber Creek Campground, where I would need to go to continue my hike, and I am already in Ely, where I am looking to end my hike, it just made sense to have him drop me off at a motel while I was here.
Of course I was disappointed that I could not do the Schell Creek Ridgeline Traverse, but at the same time, I’m more concerned about the logistics of ending the route next week at Great Basin National Park. I had sent my bounce box to the post office in Baker, which is only open Monday through Friday and they close at 3pm. So if I get there on the weekend, I would have to wait until Monday to get my box. This normally wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but I am also trying to set up a ride out of Baker to a major city where I could catch a plane home. Marlene, who I met in the Rubies and lives in Reno, offered to drive 5 hours each way to Great Basin National Park and pick me up. Finishing by Friday at 3pm would be best for her schedule, so that’s my new goal. Getting dropped off in Ely now almost ensures that I will Make that goal. Had I not done that, that timeline wouldn’t have worked.
So, Dave dropped me off at the Motel 6, where I stayed before I started the hike. While checking in, I asked Raj, the owner or manager, if he knew of anyone that could drive me out to the middle of nowhere so I can start the 10th and final section of the Basin and Range Trail. There was no taxi service in town, Uber or anything. To my surprise, he immediately had someone in mind. He gave me Terri’s number, whom works here as well. Great!
First thing I did was order an extra large meat lovers Pizza from Hometown Pizza, with a 2 liter of Coke, delivered. I took a shower in the meantime, and then Pigged out. Gotta feed the hiker hunger.
Didn’t really accomplish much the rest of the day. Typical stuff, wash some clothes, charge batteries and made some phone calls. Called Dad and had him send a box to Baker containing a laundry bag that I used to protect my backpack when I check it at the airport, my small Osprey backpack that I use for my carry-on so I can put my camera gear in it, as well as a pair of clothes to wear. I called Terri in the evening and left a message. She got back to me later in the evening by text and we began to discuss plans to take me out to my starting point for the next Section.
I Started looking at the next section and made some route modifications. I had planned on walking the Ridgeline south of Mount Moriah, but that would have meant a crappy bushwhack down into Hendry’s Creek. So I modified the route to Make a base camp below Mount Moriah and then Summit it, then come back the way I came and down into Henry’s Creek. This will still be faster. Also, the route going up to Wheeler Peak did not look realistic. I checked the satellite view and it was up a couple thousand feet through trees. No way! So, I created another alternate route that goes around the east side of Great Basin National Park, up a different Creek than I had planned, up to the Ridgeline by Mount Washington, cutting off Mount Lincoln, and making my way over to Wheeler Peak. This would save the best for last, and also allow for a hike down to Stella Lake. But, I’ll walk though the town of Baker once on my way into Great Basin, forming a little loop as I return to Baker to complete the Basin and Range Trail.
Also, I had to figure out where I wanted Terri to drop me off. The original plan was Cave Lake State Park, but that would mean going up in over the Schell Creek range, which I’ve already pretty much written off at this point. That would also mean a walk across Spring Valley, in 101 degree heat. So, I made the decision to knock off another 25 miles and have her drop me off at the entrance of Deerhead Canyon, along negro Creek, below Mount Moriah.
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